


Turn Signal

by childoflightning



Series: just keep stumbling forward (baby im waiting for you) [2]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Ableism, Alternate Universe - Human, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders Has Panic Attacks, Disabled Character, Family Issues, First Meetings, Friendship, Gen, References to past trauma, Remy Has a Service Dog, Remy is blind, Service Dog Meet-Up, Virgil has PTSD, Virgil has a Service Dog, internalized ableism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-07
Updated: 2019-05-07
Packaged: 2020-02-27 11:32:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18738163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/childoflightning/pseuds/childoflightning
Summary: Virgil’s new independence scares him.Remy’s lack of freedom frustrates him.-When Virgil attends his first Service Dog Meet Up- suggested strongly to him by both his father and therapist- he wasn’t really looking to make friends. He was just trying not to panic. But when he- literally- runs into a snarky blind teen, Virgil realizes how much he’s been missing. After all, you can’t live life guided by fear.-Remy’s been around the block. When he was a child he knew he would eventually go blind, but that didn’t make losing most of his vision any easier. A chance to help a panicky teen out wasn’t really what he was expecting, but it might just make him a little more hopeful for his own future.





	Turn Signal

**Author's Note:**

> TW: Ableism, PTSD and Symptoms  
> In-Depth TW in End Notes  
> -  
> This idea has been sitting in the back of my mind for a while now. Also if Remy, and Virgil to an extent, seem ooc, please remember that they are both going through a lot right now. They are angry and scared teens, so their personalities are a bit different then the ones we know and love. Especially Remy. Usually I have to cut back on how many times I make Remy say 'gurl' or 'b-', but this time I didn't even type them once.

Virgil was trying not to freak out. His father and therapist had both thought this would be a good idea. So it would be fine, right? He was safe, right? Maybe he should have taken his dad’s offer to come with him. But oh my god that would be even more embarrassing oh god no.

Dolly whined and nudged him.

Right, come on Virgil, breathe, it’ll all be alright.

The bus then came to a stop and announced the location. Okay Virgil, this was you, get off, he reminded himself. Virgil grabbed Dolly’s leash and shakily clammored off the bus. He grabbed his opposite elbows and started to squeeze them tightly, nails digging into his skin as he stumbled down the path. Dolly jumped up, lightly hitting him with her paws. He released his elbows. She still whined and pawed at him, and he sat down on a nearby bench, breathing shaky and uneven. Dolly jump up to lay half on top of him. Right, come on Virgil, you’ve done this a million times. Focus on your breathing.

“Hey are you alright?” someone asked.

Virgil looked up, a crowd was gathering around them. Dolly jumped off and went into a block.

The person frowned, “Hey, are hurt or something?”

Virgil tried to say something, but couldn’t breathe. Dolly continued her block.

The woman continued to frown and stepped towards him. Dolly held her block.

The woman ignored the dog and it’s vest, attempting to move around it. Dolly just followed, making sure to keep between the women and Virgil. If Virgil hadn’t been struggling to breathe he would of praised his dog abundantly for her good work. She was staying so focused and on task.

The woman eventually frowned but backed off, shooting Virgil numerous looks as she left.

Virgil took a few minutes to ground himself with Dolly’s assistance before carrying on towards where the meet up was said to be held.

Wow. He was actually doing this.

He quickly arrived at what he thought was the indicated park, and started to look around. He almost immediately saw a crowd of people with dogs in bright jackets. He approached carefully before hesitating a bit of a distance away.

This was obviously the service dog group. But he didn’t know anyone. His hands started to shake slightly. Strangers could be dangerous. Maybe he should just go home. Just in case. Yeah, going home sounded good. He turned around with a spin and grabbed his phone out of his pocket to call his dad. He was looking at his phone when he ran into something, sending Virgil tumbling to the ground. The shock broke him out of his jumbled thoughts, and he looked for what he crashed into.

“Hey, are you okay?” a voice asked.

“S-Sorry, uh, wasn’t looking where I was going,” Virgil stammered.

“Neither was I,” the person commented with a smirk. Virgil took note of the sunglasses and folded cane. He offered nothing in response.

“I’m Remy,” the teen attempted, “No clue who you are, but I mean you ran into me. So, are you okay?”

“Uh, y-yeah, I was uh- I was just going to this service dog thing- oh uh, you have a service dog,” Virgil commented at the realization.

“Yup,” Remy agreed, “This is Cha-Cha. I’m blind. Or well, legally at least, but I still have a fair bit of vision. It’s going though.”

“O-oh.”

An awkward silence commenced.

“You said something about a service dog thing?” Remy asked in confirmation.

“Y-yeah my thera- uh my- uh wants me to make some friends or something. Apparently this was a good place to start, or something.”

“Well that actually makes a lot of sense. It's not everyday Cha-Cha and I meet another team. We’re actually headed to the meetup too.”

“Really?” Virgil asked.

“Uh huh,” Remy said with a nod, “Small world huh.”

Virgil let out a weak laugh.

“Why don’t you come with me,” Remy offered, “I can introduce you to some people.”

Virgil gave a nod, quickly realized his mistake and let out a verbal ‘yes.’

Remy gave him a bright smile and waved in the direction of the meeting.

“So,” Remy proposed as they walked, “You said that this was your first service dog meet up?”

“Uh, yeah,” Virgil admitted, “I uh, got Dolly a few years ago, but we’ve never done anything like this.”

“Hmm,” Remy mused, “I got Cha-Cha about a year ago now, when my vision really started to decline. It's a great group of people, and lots of new people are always visiting. There’s never that many my age though.”

Virgil spared a glance at the other boy, evaluating his physical features to estimate his age. Definitely a teenager, but he seemed to be on the younger side.

“How old are you?” Virgil asked.

“Fourteen,” Remy remarked.

“And you come here all by yourself?” Virgil queried.

The question seemed to make the boy bristle. Virgil recognized the defensive move of hunching his shoulders forward.

“Of course. I’m blind, not useless. And I’m not a little kid.”

“I didn’t mean- It’s just what if-” Virgil’s mind raced to all the things that could possibly happen to a young teenager by themself, especially one who

was blind. “You could get hurt,” he muttered.

“Well, how old are you?” Remy challenged.

“Why?” Virgil bit back.

“Well come on, you can’t be that much older then me, and you’re by yourself too.”

Virgil stiffened. It was true. His dad and therapist said he was safe here. He had gone to this park before. It was safe. Police were in the area. Nothing was going to happen to him. Right? Right?

“Uh, Virgil?” Remy questioned as the other boy came to a halt.

“This was a bad idea,” was all he offered in response. The world swam in and out of focus.

“What was?” Remy questioned.

“You’re right. I’m right. It’s not safe. It’s not safe.” Someone could come for him. Oh god- what was he thinking going out alone.

At this point Virgil was gasping for breath.

“Hey okay, everything's going to be okay,” Remy promised, “You’re safe. It’s safe here. I promise. Just, breathe, okay?”

“B- But,” he faltered.

“No really,” Remy insisted, “It’s safe. Come on, you really think my overprotective parents let out their poor blind fourteen-year-old son if they didn’t think it was safe?”

“Right,” Virgil mumbled, trying to believe it. Dolly nudged into him and he gave her some pets, keeping his hands busy.

“How about this,” Remy offered, “We stick together. That way neither of us is alone and we’re double safe.”

“I don’t think that’s a thing,” Virgil commented.

Remy gave a shrug.

“Eh, it is now. Now ready to go meet some people?”

“I guess,” Virgil offered.

They took a step forward together.

* * *

“I’m home,” Remy announced as he finally twisted the door open. If he was luckily no one would respond.

“Honey! You’re back,” a voice fussed from far away. The sound of clunking shoes on wood soon followed.

Great. His dad was home.

Remy stepped inside and took off Cha-Cha’s harness. He felt along the wall for it’s hook. When he found it he hung it up and then stepped further into the house. His fingers trailed on the sofa as he made his way towards the stairs. Before he had even gotten half way, a loud voice was greeting him and a darker figure entered his limited field of vision.

“Remy!” the familiar voice exclaimed.

“Hi dad,” he responded.

“How was the meeting? Did you find it okay? You’re back a bit late? I know you said you could do it alone, but I really could come with you if you want. I don’t want you to get lost or hurt or-”

“It was fine dad,” Remy cut in, “I took a wrong turn at an intersection but figured it out. It was fine.”

“Oh, see- Rem honey, I can come with you so that doesn’t happen-” he fussed.

“I got lost for like two minutes, it’s not the end of the world. And I’m pretty sure getting lost isn’t an exclusive blind experience. It happens to everyone.”

“Oh but-”

“I’m going to my room,” Remy asserted.

“Alright, um stairs are at your-”

“I know where the stairs are dad! I’ve lived in this house for five years! I’m blind not incompetent.”

“I know, I know, it’s just the past few months, you’ve lost so much of your vision and I just, I worry about you,” he hastened to defend himself.

Remy brushed past him and made his way for the stairs. And if he reached them a bit earlier than he was expecting, stubbing his toe roughly, well that was his business.

He raced up the staircase as fast as possible and then escaped to his room, slamming the door after Cha-Cha had brushed past him.

He tore his jacket off and threw it in the direction of his desk before flopping onto his bed with a miserable sigh. A heavy choking feeling filled his throat. He tried to clear it but had no luck.

His phone buzzed and he pulled it out with a huff.

He stared at the screen, holding it close to his face in hopes that he could read it. When he still couldn’t read what he now knew was a text message, he chucked it at the wall.

Hot angry tears spilled down his face.

He couldn’t even read a stupid text. Maybe his dad was right. He was incompetent.

“Remy, everything alright up there?” his father called.

“I’m fine,” he hollered back. The last thing he wanted was for his dad to check on him.

His phone buzzed again. He sighed and had Cha-Cha fetch it for him.

He turned it on and tapped it instead, having the phone reading it aloud for him.

“New text from 555- 2947.”

He double tapped to open it and then tapped again for it to be read aloud.

“It’s Virgil. Thanks for helping me today. Things like that are hard for me. Hope to hear from you.”

His lips turned slightly upward and he hurried to text back.

He sent a simple ‘how are you,’ waiting much too eagerly for a reply.

“Took a wrong turn and got lost for a few minutes,” his phone read back to him, “but I figured it out.”

Cause that’s what you did when you go lost. You figured it out.

Remy brushed away with his tears and took a deep breath.

He’d figure it out.

**Author's Note:**

> In-Depth TW: Ableism (Remy experiences internalized ableism. Virgil is kinda ableist in response to Remy because he is uneducated. Multiple back ground characters are ablesit with their remarks and actions), PTSD and Symptoms (Virgil- Brief Panicking and Allusions to Assumed (but false) Danger)  
> -  
> On Ableism and Remy: Remy recently, and still is, going blind. Just like a student doesn't learn a whole year's worth of lessons in a day, someone doesn't learn how to go through life blind in a day. Remy is in this learning process. That being said, Remy's father's beliefs and coddling are not productive to Remy's learning because they restrict him and don't allow him to learn how to become independent. Mistakes are a necessary step to mastering anything.  
> -  
> Thank you for taking the time to read this! The next (longer) installment is all written, but I wanted to put something in between the two lengthier stories. The new installment will probably be up in about a week. Keep an eye out and let me know what you thought! Please be polite!  
> ~childoflightning


End file.
